Raleigh all Steel

[Mark Grant]

Here is another bike I got with the Lenton. A Raleigh All Steel Bicycle. SA dyno rear hub, original pump, B66 saddle. Not sure what I'll do with this one as I have a Rudge of a similar age.

 

[biggs682]

I had always wanted what i called a sit up and beg bike or roadster bike , but having ridden something similar to yours @Mark Grant i realised it would have to have cable rather than rod style brakes and alloy rims as nothing worse than trying to slow down on damp steel ones .

So when i saw URL="https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/my-50s-raleigh-roadster.196906/"]My 50's Raleigh Roadster[/URL] on e bay it answered a lot of my requirements so went for it .

I think if i was you i would have a quick look to see if you can convert the brakes to cable operation and if so then have a go , but i presume you will need to swap rims and calipers so could prove costly and never likely to be recovered .

What ever you decide have fun and either way it's a cracking looker of a bike

 

[Andy in Germany]

Serious question: When it says "All steel" what are the other options? Wooden rims, perhaps?

 

[Drago]

Frames made from 2 x 4 were popular in the day.

 

[raleighnut]

Nice, and complete too by the look of things

 

[wisdom]

Nice and original.It has stood the test of time well.Love it.

 

[Cycleops]

Serious question: When it says "All steel" what are the other options? Wooden rims, perhaps?

Down here they make them from bamboo. You can also buy a diy kit and build it yourself, there was a thread on here not too long ago.
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/self-build-bamboo-bike-frame-kit-build-thread.225144/post-5385799

 

[DCLane]

Also magnesium - my Carrera Virago commuter had a magnesium frame. Handled well but the frames were prone to cracking though hence the additional welding around the head tube.

My understanding is that these were originally made by Merida and some used in the Halfords team around 2000-2002, with mine being originally one of those:

Last seen being ridden by a Hungarian trainee doctor at St James' in 2016 as I decided to use my Principia (gone now as well) instead.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Back in the day when the Raleigh bike was built such exotic materials were not available or so common, but clearly they felt that 'all steel' was a selling point. I'm wondering what materials were in common use a the time.

 

[raleighnut]

Back in the day when the Raleigh bike was built such exotic materials were not available or so common, but clearly they felt that 'all steel' was a selling point. I'm wondering what materials were in common use a the time.

Lugs were often in cast iron and tubing could often be (malleable) iron pipes whereas steel is an Iron alloy, a bit like when manufacturers claimed the frame is made with 'warranted gas specification tubing'.

 

[rrarider]

Lugs were often in cast iron and tubing could often be (malleable) iron pipes whereas steel is an Iron alloy, a bit like when manufacturers claimed the frame is made with 'warranted gas specification tubing'.

Hence the disparaging term for a low quality bike, like the one I once had. The term was 'gas pipe bike'.

 

[raleighnut]

Hence the disparaging term for a low quality bike, like the one I once had. The term was 'gas pipe bike'.

Yep funny how the term changed around completely, it was once a mark of quality to have 'seamless' drawn tubing eg 531.

 

[Windhover]

Here is another bike I got with the Lenton. A Raleigh All Steel Bicycle. SA dyno rear hub, original pump, B66 saddle. Not sure what I'll do with this one as I have a Rudge of a similar age.
View attachment 441520
View attachment 441521 View attachment 441522

My advice would be to fit a hamper on the rear rack and use it as a shopping bike like mine. But you will need to be able to swing to leg high up over the hamper to mount it as I found to my cost when I first rode mine!!

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

My advice would be to fit a hamper on the rear rack and use it as a shopping bike like mine. But you will need to be able to swing to leg high up over the hamper to mount it as I found to my cost when I first rode mine!!

That looks proper, I like the old-school aesthetics you get from a non-plastic era basket or box fitted to an old steel bike. Legover clearance could be maintained by using a smaller, open-topped box with lower sides. If it was mine I'd salvage some skip wood and knock something up DIY and use bungee cords to hold down any cargo carried. I've already got one of those plastic crates that greengrocers get their produce in, which is cable tied to the rack on one of my hack bikes when required for local shopping use. It looks horrible because it's plastic, and I don't care because the whole bike is a mongrel, but if I made a bit of effort I could easily make a more "vintage" looking one that would suit something like an old Raleigh roadster..